Part 5

The hunters must be so expert at their trade that as soon as the shot has been fired the man who did the shooting must lean over and grasp the alligator by the tail, pull him half way over the gunnel of the boat and hold him there for the quick cut with the ax in the back, which his partner must be, by this time, prepared to strike. All this is done far quicker than it can be told; so quickly is it done that often the alligator is killed by the ax only, and it is found that the bullet had never struck him, and he had only been either stunned, or so demoralized as to forget his own power.

This cut in the back, severing the vertebrae, places the alligator entirely hors de combat. There is even no flopping about in the bottom of the boat where he is then thrown. Now the hunters are ready to proceed on to their next capture.

The morning generally finds the hunters with their boat loaded, and they are glad of a short rest and—breakfast. There then remains but the task of skinning their game and salting the hides down in barrels, ready for shipment.

Leo L. Stratner.

DANDELION. (_Taraxacum taraxacum_ Karst.)

You are bilious, my good man. Go and pay a guinea to one of the doctors in those houses.... He will prescribe taraxacum for you, or pil. hydrarg.—Thackeray, Philip, ii.

Dandelion is a perennial herb thoroughly familiar to everyone, as it is found almost everywhere throughout all temperate and north temperate countries. It has a basal tuft of rather large, spatulate to lanceolate, deeply incised leaves. There are several slender, cylindrical, hollow stalks, six to twelve inches long, each one ending in a bright yellow flower head with numerous small flowers. The fully matured fruits form a white, fluffy head and are easily removed and scattered by air currents. Each fruit is a miniature parachute and every child has blown upon the fruit head and watched the individual fruits sail for great distances, suspended in air by the parachute-like expansion of the pappus. Roots are quite large, branching, rather fleshy. The plant contains a milky juice, having a bitter taste.

The Dandelion is said to be a native of Greece, southern Europe and Asia Minor. It has spread very rapidly and widely via the commercial routes. It has become thoroughly naturalized in the United States and Canada, forming the most conspicuous plant in farmyards, along roadsides, meadows, pastures and in orchards. Flowers are matured throughout the entire season, but chiefly in the spring and again in the late summer or early autumn. The plant belongs to the same family as the sunflower, daisy, goldenrod and iron weed.

Dandelion has been used medicinally for many centuries, and the name is derived from the Latin dens leonis, meaning lion’s tooth, referring to the incised leaves. Theophrastus described the plant and lauded it very highly in the treatment of liver complaints and for freckles. Later (980-1037 A. D.) Arabian physicians employed it very extensively, principally in jaundice and other liver complaints. During the middle ages the milky juice of this plant was highly recommended in the treatment of diseases of the eye. During the sixteenth century European physicians found it useful as a quieting and sleep-producing remedy.

The poor of nearly all countries collect the young, crisp leaves in the early spring and prepare therefrom a salad, resembling lettuce salad. The poor in large cities visit vacant lots, in which the plants usually grow abundantly, and collect the leaves for home consumption, or fill large, often dirty, sacks, and vend it among the poor tenement dwellers. This is certainly a dangerous procedure, as all manner of dirt and disease germs are found on the leaves, to say nothing of dirty hands, utensils and containers of the collectors. No doubt many a case of typhoid fever or other germ disease among the poor could be traced to this source. In country districts there is little danger connected with eating Dandelion leaves, and they really form a good, palatable salad when properly prepared.

The leaves are also cooked, usually with leaves of other plants (species of chenopodium), forming “greens,” highly relished by the poor. The American Indians as well as savages of other countries eat large quantities of the leaves raw, more rarely cooked. In Germany and other European countries the roots are collected, dried, roasted and used as a substitute for coffee.

The principal use of this plant has thus far been medicinal, but its value as a curative agent has certainly been overrated. It has been used in dropsy, pulmonary diseases, in stomach derangements, in hepatic or liver disorders, in icterus, blotchy skin and other skin diseases, for biliary calculi, in hypochondriasis, etc. It has no marked curative properties in any disorder. Beyond mildly laxative and tonic properties it has no effect whatever. Using taraxacum preparations for a considerable length of time causes digestive disorders, mental excitement, vertigo, coated tongue and nausea.

In lawns the plant proves a great nuisance, as it displaces the grass, and it is difficult to exterminate. The plants must be dug up, roots and all, carted away and burned. This should be done early, before the seeds are sufficiently mature to germinate. For medicinal use the roots are gathered in March, July and November, cleaned, the larger roots cut longitudinally, dried and packed to be shipped to points of consumption. The juice expressed from the fresh roots is also used.

Albert Schneider.

FROM SPRING TO RIVULET.

Still dances the brook with its murmurs gay, Down through the woods and under the way, Splashing o’er rocks,—through meadow agleam, To lose itself in the larger stream. It passes a laugh with ferns that peer To see their forms in its waters clear; It meets a rock, and dashes spray At moss and lichens that light its gray; And yet, as it nears where violets hide ’Neath soughing pines, its waters glide With hardly a sound, lest the tender flower Should feel, in its haste, too hard a shower. But ever it sings, be it night or day, Year after year, in the selfsame way, “Here I tinkle, and there I dash, I ripple, I murmur, I gaily splash; Such a mad, such a glad little brook am I, Singing along ’neath a summer sky!”

But just as gay as it is in June Is the brook as it sings its winter tune. Jack Frost makes his call,—and droop the ferns; Again and again the sprite returns, Till over the pool beneath the pines A magical covering gleams and shines. Now hide and seek does the brooklet play, For it dashes forth once more on its way, Again to be hidden beneath the snow, That gives no hint of the songster below. But the grand old trees that love it well, And the winter bird,—they both can tell That ever it sings, as it sang of old, When winds are bleak and days are cold, “Here I tinkle, and there I dash, I ripple, I murmur, I gaily splash; Such a mad, such a glad little brook am I, Singing along when snowflakes fly!” —Grace E. Harlow.

INDEX Volume XII—June, 1902, to December, 1902, inclusive.

PAGE

A Alligators, As to, Leo L. Stratner, 231 Animal’s Fair, The, Mary McCrae Culter, 65, 101 Amber. (Illustration) Oliver Cummings Farrington, 125 Argynis, A New, (Illustration) Wilmatte Porter Cockerell, 83 Autumn, The, (Poem) Grace Wickham Curran, 132

B Bat, My, Martha R. Fitch, 181 Billie Came Back, When, (The Story of a Flicker) Rowland Watts, 185 Bird and the Mouse, The, Katharine Pope, 68 Bird Life, Tragedy in, George Klingle, 161 Bird of Peace, The, Belle Paxson Drury, 109 Bird of Superstition, The, Belle Paxson Drury, 91 Bird Tenants, Building for, Lee McCrae, 152 Bird, The Celestial, Belle Paxson Drury, 164 Bird Wonders, Some, L. Philo Venen, 168 Birdland, A Bit of Fiction From, Sara Elizabeth Graves, 12 Birds, Character in, Louise Claude, 113 Birds, Incidents About, E. E. Lockwood, 198 Birds of Promise. Alberta Field, 220 Birds, To the, (Poem) Henry Johnstone, 5 Bread, Peculiar Mexican, Louise Jamison, 121 Brook, The, (Poem) Alfred Tennyson, 144 Butterfly. (Poem) C. V. Riley, 182 Butterfly. (Poem) M. D. Tolman, 38 Butterfly, The Leaf, (Illustration), 114

C Canary, How a Cat Saved the Life of a, Mary Catherine Judd, 222 Carnation, The, (Illustration) Charles S. Raddin, 216 Cherry and I. (Poem) Elizabeth Walling, 32 Cherry, The, (Illustration) Albert Schneider, 95 Chickadee, The Carolina, (Illustration) J. Rollin Slonaker, 14 Chuck-will’s-widow, The, (Illustration), 201 Circus, An Amateur, Paul Brenton Eliot, 202 Comptie. Mary Stratner, 187 Corundum and Spinel. Oliver Cummings Farrington, 207 Cottage by the Wood, The, Berton Mercer, 80 Cowries and Shell Money, The, (Illustration) Frank Collins Baker, 86 Curlew, The Long-billed, (Illustration), 59

D Damsel Fly, The, Alvin M. Hendee, 73 Dandelion. (Illustration) Albert Schneider, 235 Day, A, (Poem) Lucia Belle Cook, 104 December. (Poem) Joel Benton, 193 Dells, The Wisconsin, (Poem) Illyria Turner, 91 Diamond, The, (Illustration) Oliver Cummings Farrington, 170 Dick. (The Story of a Dog) Katharine Watkins Lawson, 17 Dixie-Land, Down in, Lee McCrae, 180 Dogs, Some, Alvin M. Hendee, 120

E Egg Plant. (Illustration) Albert Schneider, 191

F Family, A Happy, L. Philo Venen, 72 Feldspar. (Illustration) Oliver Cummings Farrington, 74 Fig Tree’s Family History, Mrs., Karrie King, 150 Finch, A Pretty House, Leander S. Keyser, 24 Fire-weed or Great Willow Herb, The, (Illustration), 38 Fisherman, The Feathered, Walter Cummings Butterworth, 215 Flicker, A Story of, (When Billie Came Back) Rowland Watts, 185 Flycatcher, The Green-crested, (Illustration), 110

G Geysers, Springs and Artesian Wells. (Illustration) M. S. Hall, 26 Goldfinch, The Arkansas, (Illustration), 158

I Indian Summer. (Poem) M. D. Tolman, 176

J June. (Sonnet) Helen Hunt Jackson, 1 June, The Way of, (Poem) _Pall Mall Gazette_, 1

K Kinsman, Our, (Poem) Mrs. Merrill E. Gates, 56 Kite, The Everglade, (Illustration), 62 Kite, The Swallow-tailed, (Illustration), 2

L Lady-birds, Where We Found the, Mary Catherine Judd, 31 Lake, Sabbath by the, (Poem) Carrie B. Sanborn, 149 Lapis Lazuli. (Illustration) Oliver Cummings Farrington, 122 Leaves, The Light of the, (Poem) Cora May Cratty, 152 Leucosticte, The Gray-Crowned. (Illustration), 204

M Malachite. (Illustration) Oliver Cummings Farrington, 127 Moth and Its Methods, The Clothes. Louise Jamison, 197 Moth, The Atlas, (Illustration), 182 Mouse, The Bird and the, Katharine Pope, 68 Mystery, A, (Poem) Edward O. Jackson, 192

N Nasturtiums. (Poem) Lulu Whedon Mitchell, 96 Nature’s Glory. (Poem) J. Mayne Baltimore, 121 November. Belle A. Hitchcock, 157 November. (Poem) C. L. Cleavland, 145

O Oriole, The Hooded. (Illustration), 194 Oriole’s Mission, The. (Poem) Christine B. Moray, 197 Ousel, The Water, J. Mayne Baltimore, 42 Outings, Old-fashioned, Helen Mansfield, 6, 53 Owl, The Great Gray, (Illustration), 107

P Peach Tree Stump, A Prolific, Addie L. Booker, 84 Persimmon, The. (Illustration), 228 Pink, The Sea or Marsh, (Illustration), 41 Plover, The Black-bellied, (Illustration), 167 Poem. (Selected) Alice Carey, 48 Poem. (Selected) Celia Thaxter, 49 Poem. (Selected) J. S. Cutler, 23 Poem. (Selected) MacDonald, 61 Poem. (Selected) Mrs. Barbauld, 83 Poem. (Selected) Sidney Lanier, 116 Poem. (Selected) Swinburne, 98 Poem. (Selected) William Cullen Bryant, 191

R Rats, The Pocket. (Illustration), 225 River Path, The, (Poem) Frank Farrington, 188

S Sabbath by the Lake. (Poem) Carrie B. Sanborn, 149 September. (Sonnet) Helen Hunt Jackson, 49 Snails of the Ocean, Some, (Illustration) Frank Collins Baker, 134 Snowstorm, After the, (Poem) Mary Grant O’Sheridan, 214 Sparrow, The Grasshopper, (Illustration), 71 Sparrow, The White-Crowned. (Illustration), 213 Spinel, Corundum and. Oliver Cummings Farrington, 207 Spring to Rivulet, From. (Poem) Grace E. Harlow, 236 Springs, Geysers and Artesian Wells. (Illustration) M. S. Hall, 26 Starfishes. (Illustration) Frank Collins Baker, 35 Starling, The, (Illustration), 155 Summer Acquaintances, My, Ellen Hampton Dick, 108 Summer Night, My, (Poem) Willis Edwin Hurd, 92 Sun-bird, The Philippine, (Illustration), 98 Sunrise Club, Join a, Roselle Theodore Cross, 140 Swallow, The Violet-green (Illustration), 23

T Thrush, The Alice’s, (Illustration), 11 Thrush, The Louisiana Water, (Illustration), 116 Thrush’s Solo, The, (Poem) Mrs. A. S. Hardy, 25 Toads, The Horned, (Illustration), 179 Tobacco. (Illustration) Albert Schneider, 43 Tomato, The, (Illustration) Albert Schneider, 143

V Vines, Beautiful, to be Found in Our Wild Woods. J. O. Cochran, 133, 186, 227

W Warbler, The Palm, (Illustration), 50 Willow-herb, The Fireweed or Great, (Illustration), 38 Wings, On Jewelled, Claudia May Ferrin, 60 Wings, The Life of Airy, M. Evelyn Lincoln, 162 Winter-Piece Among the Pentlands, A. (Poem) Henry Johnstone, 215 Winter Song. (Poem) Frank Farrington, 219 Winter Visitors. Caroline Parker, 226 Wood Harmony, The, (Poem) Frank Walcott Hutt, 79 Woodpecker, The Pileated, (Illustration), 146 Woods, Autumn, (Poem) William Cullen Bryant, 97 World, The, (Poem) John Greenleaf Whittier, 41

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